Methyphobia
by Khloris
Summary: Percy Jackson was always the strong one, the one who others look up to. He never broke, not until he was forced into a place where his carefully cultivated mask started to crumble. Found by an unlikely person, Percy will realise that being strong is not always the right thing and that sometimes you need to let your emotions run free. (1st in 'Phobia' series)


**Methyphobia : an irrational fear of****alcohol**

Percy Jackson had never been one for drinking. Others that he met, including close friends, always told him that people exaggerated about hangovers and "just one drink!". They didn't realise even the sight of alcohol was too much, and the part of his life that alcohol had influenced was more than enough to turn him off drinking forever.

**Right now, Percy was contemplating all of the ways to get out of his current predicament. Had he been thinking straight, the answer would have been obvious. He could have just said, "Hey guys, I don't feel comfortable here… I think I'm gonna call it a night."**

**Unfortunately, this was Percy Jackson… a person who was lovingly nicknamed "Seaweed Brain". So, it really was not that much of a stretch to think that he did not even consider telling his friends he wanted to leave. **

No, he was going to stay… at a club… with alcohol… surrounded by drunk people… with friends that were trying to make him drink…

This was _not _how he wanted to spend his Saturday night, but Percy was not going to show anyone just how much this affected him, not if he could help it.

"Hey, Percy!" Thalia shouted from a few seats down the bar, "Can you pass me that bottle of vodka?"

With hands shaking slightly, so that no one would have been able to notice unless they were searching for it, Percy reached to the left and grabbed the vodka. His palms were so sweaty that the bottle almost dropped, causing Piper, who was already fairly intoxicated, to shriek. Percy hurriedly placed the bottle down in front of Thalia and sat on his hands, trying to calm down. His heart was pounding like he had just run a marathon, and he was starting to feel breathless.

If Percy had been paying attention to his surroundings, something that was drilled into every demigod's head since their first day at camp, he would have noticed the wide eyes watching him. To be fair, Percy _was_ looking rather pale, with sweat beading on his forehead shivers wracking his body. Anyone who had any medical knowledge would be able to see that something was very wrong.

Will Solace was just a son of Apollo. Not that he wasn't a good fighter or powerful, it was just that the children of Apollo were usually healers or archers. They rarely achieved glory in battle and no one ever _really_ paid attention to the healers. Still, Will was a doctor and any doctor worth his cup of salt would have noticed Percy's current state.

He was trembling, and gasping for breath as if he had been running. Percy's hands were shaking and every part of his body was tense, as though he was prepared to sprint away at any given moment. Will watched as Percy said something to Jason, not that Jason was actually listening, and stand up to leave. For a heart stopping moment, Will thought Percy was going to collapse from the way he swayed on his feet and grabbed the edge of the bar.

Percy stumbled to the side entrance of the club and almost pulled the door of its hinges in his haste to get outside. Will rose to his feet and following him when he realised no one else was going to make sure Percy was okay. He walked towards the door that Percy had left through and looked outside. Will raked his gaze up and down the alley, when he noticed someone crouched on the ground.

Percy was sitting with his back against the wall, head in hands, shaking with silent sobs. If Will listened closely, he could hear was sounded like Percy hyperventilating. Seeing him in such a state caused Will to slide into what his siblings called, "Doctor Mode".

Will slowly walked forward, and knelt down in front of Percy. With gentle hands, he reached up and placed his hand under Percy's chin, lifting it up so that they were looking at each other.

Percy had needed to leave. Being surrounded by all the alcohol was too much, and all of his friends being drunk was not helping matters. He leaned over to Jason and said that he was going to head outside, but Jason was not paying him the slightest bit of attention.

Percy rose to his feet, but a sudden bout of dizziness struck him right has he stood upright. He grabbed onto the edge of the bar to stop himself from falling over and took a few deep breaths to help calm down. With a burst of adrenaline, Percy stumbled toward the side door, and pulled it open as quickly as he could.

Percy could barely walk upright with how much he was shaking, and he was having trouble breathing. He stumbled over to the side of the alley, and slid down the wall, legs not able to support him any longer. Percy heard the door open, but was too busy hyperventilating to give it much thought. The door opening had not fully computed until a gentle hand reached under his chin and lifted it up so that he and the other person were looking at each other.

He looked into the concerned eyes of Will Solace, and felt a brief flash of fear rushing through his body. No one had ever seen him in such a state before, not even his mother who he could honestly say knew the most about him over anyone else. He was so used to being the one that others looked up to, that it was strange to have someone see him at his worst and look at him with no judgement in their eyes.

Will felt only pity when he saw how distraught and broken Percy was. He, being a doctor, knew how hard it was to never show others when something was wrong. Of course, Percy was someone who would never complain and would work until he collapsed from exhaustion before not helping someone in need.

Will reached his thumb up and wiped away some of the tears falling from Percy's eyes. They sat there for a while, Percy silently crying and Will wiping his tears. After some time passed, Percy pulled away and gazed silently at him.

Will knew that he would have to ask what was wrong eventually, but for some reason he could not bring himself to dredge up what must be a horrid topic to have caused Percy to break down like this. Still, he forced himself to do it, and asked him with a heavy heart.

"Percy?" Will said softly, his eyes kind but searching. "What caused this?"

He was not prepared for that question to unlock the gates on Percy's emotions. Between choked out sobs and half mumbled sentences, Will was able to piece together what was happening.

"My mom… she married a guy named Gabe Ugliano when I was around four or five. He seemed like a nice person… a little on the chubby side, but still a relatively good person. We didn't realise what he was really like until they got married."

By this point in the story, Percy had tears streaming down his face and his shoulders shook from too many suppressed emotions.

"He never went to work and played poker with his friends all the time. He threw all the food in the fridge out and filled it with beer. The first time he ever hit me was after he had had about three drinks. Gabe wanted another, but I told him that he had had too many already and could have more tomorrow. He grabbed one of the empty bottles around his chair and yanked me by over to him using my shirt. Gabe… he hit me over the back with the beer bottle until shards of glass were sticking out of my back."

Percy was shaking and Will could see him start to hyperventilate. He moved over so that he could sit with his back against the wall, and pulled Percy into his lap. Will held him as he cried and ran his fingers through his hair, the repetitive motion helping him calm down. Once Percy was breathing normally again, he continued.

"That was the first time he hurt me, but definitely not the last. Gabe would bring friends over, and they would pay money to have sex with me. I never told my mom what Gabe and his friends did to me because it would break her heart. I knew she was abused too, but I made a deal with Gabe that he could rape me if he wanted but that he wouldn't touch my mom…

He never touched me when he was sober, it was only if he had been drinking. He was apart of our lives for eight years, but I never thought that he would still be able to affect me today…", Percy turned his head and looked at Will, surprised when he did not see pity or disgust on his face. He only saw understanding, and Percy felt all his walls start to crumble.

If Will was shocked when Percy practically threw himself into his arms and sobbed, he didn't show it. Instead, he wrapped his arms around him and just held Percy. Had someone walked out into the alleyway and seen them, it would have looked as if Percy was sitting in Will's lap and they were embracing. In all honesty, that was sort of what they were doing…

After around ten minutes, Will leaned down to see Percy's face and realised that he was asleep. He smiled and brushed his hair away from his eyes and shifted Percy's body off of his. Will stood up and then leaned over to reach under Percy. With some effort, Will lifted him up and cradled him against his chest. He walked back towards the club, and used his hip to push the door open.

When he entered the club, the bright lights and loud music was overwhelming and Will decided that it was time to get out of there. He walked over to where the rest of the Seven, Nico, and Thalia were talking. After informing them that he and Percy were leaving, and fending off questions about why Percy was asleep, Will walked out of the club and over to his car.

He placed Percy in the passenger seat and buckled him up, then went over to the driver's side and got in. Will looked over at Percy in the other seat and felt a strong urge to do something that could completely destroy everything.

He leaned over and gently pressed his lips to Percy's, tasting the slightest hint of chocolate on his velvet soft lips. Will sighed as he pulled away, his eyes lingering on Percy for a moment longer than was strictly necessary. Will turned away from the sleeping demigod and put the car into drive, pulled out of the parking lot, and drove away.

**I hope you enjoyed this one-shot! If it wasn't obvious, Percy now suffers from methyphobia because of the abuse he received from Gabe. I hope I did not offend anyone with my portrayal of it, but just send me a review if I did and give me advice about how to change it. **

**Alice**


End file.
